Here are some idea that we are developing
Six Wheel Omni Directional Drive With a suspension
Below are a rotating drive system. What will make it work is that the arm rotates with the drive wheels. So the claw will always be pointing at the drive direction.
Helical gears are to be used with bearings on each side. Two wheels will help balance the system. The red indicates the gear housing made in two halves.
A globe motor would be perfect to rotate the direction. One idle gear would be the drive motor but both would tension the chain. You could actually put the chains inside tubes to hide them and also support the robot.
All drive: This Idea has a lot of potential but is unsolved. The Idea is to have one CIM motor run a corner section of the wheels (2 x 24 = 48) and those wheels can turn 360 degrees. The turn motor would be connected with four flexible shafts. The wheels block is also on a suspension allowing it to tip enough to go up ramps. With Four wheel blocks that would be a total of 4 x 48 = 92 wheels. This would be fast, strong, and maneuverable.
Above, driving an angle direction.
Above is a worm gear with a curve shape. Along the curve is a idler gear attached to an arm that can move it along the curve. The larger gear is the drive gear attached to a shaft for power for drive wheels. At this time we do not have the capability to produce this worm gear.
Omni Directional Drive System With a Suspension for ramps
This system will have a six wheel drive system that has a independent suspension for the corner wheels. The robot will still have the ability of going all directions including rotate. Note the red dots in the middle of the frame. This is the location where the steel pipes will go through and support the robot. The right one is slotted so the suspension can move.
Above: A CAD drawing that we have started
Above: we worked out how the ball differential will work under power.
Above: A layout of the robot base. We in vision that the bumper bolts will slide into the steel tubes and cotter pins will hold them on for easy removal. Note that the drives are clear so they can move up and down for going over ramps. This drive design requires full contact with the floor.
Above is a test model. Below are drawings of an assembly we will build. We will use cable and pully with spring tension to hold it open.
Above: We built the hand design and it did work but the finger tips would bend before the finger base. Not good for grabbing things. We may remove a bend joint for easy control.